The “Volksbank Hamm Stiftung” und Lightpower Collection proudly present: The open-air exhibiton “Queen – The Neal Preston Photographs”
Enjoy the walk along 50 great pictures, each of them tells breathtaking insights of the life behind the scenes. Here you will find more information about some photographs.
Here you will find some greetings from Neal Preston
Who doesn’t know them? The British rock band Queen, the queen of rock bands. In 2021 the band celebrates ist 50th anniversary. With the official phot book „Queen – The Neal Preston Photographs“, the photographer pays tribute tu this memorable time and reveals breathtaking insights into life behind the scenes. The Maxipark is showing the fifty most impressive shots from this as a large open-air exhibnition in the park.
Queen was founded under the name “Smile” by Brian May (guitar, vocals) and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and later Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano) and John Deacon (bass), and they changed their name to Queen. The band released numerous number one albums and number one singles. Her biggest hits include “We Will Rock You”, “We Are The Champions”, “Radio Ga Ga” and “Bohemian Rhapsody. ”
Photographer Neal Preston is considered one of the big players in the music business with his pictures and a career spanning over 50 years. In his photographs you can find almost all the rock icons of this era. Not only did he accompany Queen, but he also toured with Led Zeppelin, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen and many other artists. In 1985, Preston was one of the official photographers at Bob Geldof’s “Live Aid” concert at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The collaboration between Neal Preston and Queen began in the mid-1970s when Preston was chosen as the band’s official tour photographer and continues to this day. “Neal just has the talent and ability to be in the right place at the right time”, Brian May once said of the photographic genius. Preston accompanied the band on their legendary South American tour in 1981, recorded their appearance at Live Aid in 1985, and planned to use his camera for the last tour Queen would ever play with Freddie Mercury in 1986.
The official photo book “Queen – The Neal Preston Photographs”, published by Reel Art Press, was published in October 2020 and invites you to an exciting journey through the years together. This is the first time that Preston and Queen have combined this work in one volume: Insights into life behind the scenes, live performances, post-performance highs and lows, and outtakes, many of which have never been seen before. Every picture shows the special energy of the band.
As part of it, fifty large-format pictures measuring 1. 80 m x 1. 20 m document the years that Neal Preston spent together on tour with Queen. The exhibition in the Maxipark is being held with the support of the Lightpower Collection, the company Lightpower GmbH from Paderborn, which collaborates with many of the biggest music photographers and archives.
The Lightpower Collection runs a gallery, develops exhibition concepts and makes works available for events. All proceeds go to foundations within the event industry, such as „Behind the Scenes“ and „Backup-The Technical Entertainment Charity.“
„We are particularly proud that the exhibition is being held with the approval of Brian May and Roger Taylor“, says the Managing Director of Maximilianpark Hamm GmbH, Jörg Rogalla. The open-air exhibition, which is being held with the support of the Volksbank Hamm Foundation, can be seen daily during opening hours until November 1, 2021.
